The connectors concerned are used particularly for transmitting electric current between circuit boards, transmitting signals and generally in applications which require fast data transmission and/or high signal frequency.
Connectors are attached to a circuit board by the ‘Pin-in-Paste’ method where paste is spread onto the circuit board and then the connector is positioned on the circuit board. The circuit board and its connectors and other components are put in a convection oven or in a similar heated and closed section of the assembly line. The circuit boards and the components thereon are heated by actively circulating hot air around the components and the circuit board. Thermal energy solders the contact pins of the connector to the circuit board.
It is known to assemble a connector from wafers which are typically produced by injection-moulding a plastic body around the contact pins of contacts arranged in one row one on top of another. A necessary number of contact pieces are assembled next to one another in the connector at hand, after which the contacts are placed inside the connector body. Wafers facilitate handling of small contacts, keep contacts pins at a correct distance from one another and also support one another. Thus connectors typically comprise several contacts which are arranged one on top of another and in parallel.
Usually contacts with a standard width are used in the male connectors of the above-mentioned connectors. Contacts are available in several widths and the width of the male connector to be used is selected according  to the requirements set by the given application. Prior art female connectors correspondingly comprise a contact corresponding to each male connector, i.e. the electric current or signal of the male connector is transmitted through the connector via one female contact. The female contacts and wafers including them are designed according to the dimensions of the male contact concerned and thus it is necessary to produce a female contact and a wafer with corresponding measurements for each male contact with a different width. The production, storage, handling and management of numerous contacts of different widths and their wafers cause considerable costs.